280 Zoology, 



Honey Buzzard. — Sir, On the 12th of October this season, 

 a honey buzzard (Falco «pivorus) was shot in Tendring Hall 

 Park, in this parish ; the person who killed it saw it first on 

 the ground ; there were several wasps' nests near the spot. On 

 dissecting it, I found a quantity of wasps and nymphae from 

 the comb both in its craw and stomach, with a few small beetles. 

 It was a male, and very fat: the plumage of a deep brown colour, 

 the feather of the back and wings margined with a paler brown, 

 the breast feathers marked with a darker streak of brown in the 

 centre of each feather ; tail long, crossed with three broad 

 bars of a deep brown, between which were three other nar- 

 row bars, tip white ; the legs shorter than those of the wood 

 buzzard, and very thick and strong. The colour of the irides 

 a fine dark hazel ; cere orange yellow. The beak is more 

 lengthened than in the common buzzard, and the claws 

 straighter, and not so sharp. It would be highly interesting, 

 could we be made acquainted with the manner in which this 

 bird conducts the attack on a wasp's nest. That the wasp, 

 with its larva, is its favourite food, seems pretty evident from 

 the accounts of most naturalists who have described it ; the 

 close set, thick, and rather stiff feathers, which surround the 

 head and throat, are probably intended for protection. From 

 the description of Willoughby, and White of Selborne, it 

 should seem that wasps and their grubs formed a considerable 

 part of its food even in the breeding season, at which time 

 those insects are in full vigour, otherwise we might have sup- 

 posed that the bird only attacked those nests in autumn which 

 had been partially destroyed. The hawk, in order to get at the 

 comb, must in some way enlarge the entrance : the legs and 

 claws of the bird I have described were very dirty, even to 

 the knee, most likely from searching much on the ground for 

 food, and using them in making an entrance into the wasps' 

 nests. At many periods of the year, if the hawk is really 

 indigenous, it would be necessitated to resort to other insect 

 food and reptiles ; but I think it very doubtful whether it 

 winters with us. I am strongly of opinion that it is found 

 and breeds here more frequently than is imagined. Mr. 

 White mentions a nest in this neighbourhood ; and according 

 to Willoughby, who gives a good description of it, it was not 

 at all uncommon in his time : its appearance, except on a 

 close examination, is like that of the wood buzzard ; so much 

 so, that I am confident most gamekeepers, who are the persons 

 that destroy the greatest number of the hawk species, would 

 pronounce it such, and nail it up on their vermin pole. 

 Again, from its habits it would not be taken in their traps, 

 but only obtained by the gun. I recollect a specimen shot 

 about ten years ago, at Gipping Hall in this county, during the 



